Overview
A poignant exploration of love amidst the shadows of history and loss.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Dense
- Violence
- Mild
- melancholic
- intimate
- cerebral
- quiet evening
- arthouse film night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a landmark of modernist cinema, praised for its innovative treatment of memory, history, and romantic intimacy.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Elle's wartime relationship and the lovers' Hiroshima conversations are intercut through associative images and overlapping dialogue.
The affair unfolds in Hiroshima while both characters carry memories of wartime loss and destruction.
The film juxtaposes Hiroshima locations, bodies, archival-like devastation imagery, and fragmented recollection without conventional transitions.
A French woman and a Japanese architect connect across memories of occupied France and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
Films like Hiroshima Mon Amour, and why
Last Year at Marienbad
shared fragmented memory, intimate transnational romance, and the tension between personal desire and historical trauma
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
shared poetic modernism, non linear recollection, and emotionally elusive romantic relationships
The Cranes Are Flying
shared politically charged romance, postwar memory, and melancholic reflection on impossible attachment
The Lovers on the Bridge
shared french art cinema sensibility, fractured chronology, and intimate relationships shaped by historical catastrophe
Movie Details
- Director
- Alain Resnais
- Release Date
- 1959-06-10
- Runtime
- 92 min
- Rating
- 7.7 / 10 (960)
Cast
- Emmanuelle Riva
- Eiji Okada
- Stella Dassas
- Pierre Barbaud
- Bernard Fresson
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Darkroom
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Hiroshima Mon Amour about?
- A French actress and a Japanese architect find fleeting intimacy in Hiroshima while memory keeps pulling their affair toward the wounds of war.
- What is Hiroshima Mon Amour like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Hiroshima Mon Amour as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as dense.
- Is Hiroshima Mon Amour violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Hiroshima Mon Amour as mild.
- What did critics think of Hiroshima Mon Amour?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a landmark of modernist cinema, praised for its innovative treatment of memory, history, and romantic intimacy.
- Which films are like Hiroshima Mon Amour?
- Films with a similar feel include Last Year at Marienbad, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Cranes Are Flying, and The Lovers on the Bridge.
- How long is Hiroshima Mon Amour?
- Hiroshima Mon Amour runs 92 minutes.
- Where can I watch Hiroshima Mon Amour?
- In United States, Hiroshima Mon Amour streams on Darkroom.
